To choose a decade, return to the Main Screen and either click on a year in the revolving ring, or on the animation above the Globe as it changes through the 1920s to the 1990s.
As you roll over the main screen, certain elements appear:
Volume Control
The volume control is located to the right of the Globe on the main screen. Click and drag the control to one of the volume settings.
Help, Guide and Exit are located behind the BBC logo.
General Navigation around the CD-ROM
ΓÇÿSound On, Vision OnΓÇÖ has been designed for exploration with the mouse. So once you are in a decade, just roll the mouse over the screen to evoke rollover animations and sounds which give a sense of some of the key events of each decade.
ThereΓÇÿs no need to click the mouse until you want to navigate to a deeper level of the programme.
Viewing the Content
When you want to explore the content, there are four main areas in each decade screen (except in the 1920s where there are three, since BBC television only started regular broadcasting in the 1930s.)
The four content areas are Radio, Television, Technology and Behind the Scenes. Each is illustrated by a cursor change as you roll over it. For example, click on the transmitter icon to open the Technology screen, or on the Broadcasting House icon to open the Behind the Scenes screen.
A roll-over ΓÇÿeyeΓÇÖ icon ΓÇö usually found in the top left quarter of the Decade screen ΓÇö plays an audio overview of each decade. And if a screen title highlights, an audio bite will follow.
There is a ΓÇÿTen TeasersΓÇÖ quiz icon on every decade screen. Click an answer to see if you are right. If you miss a question, or get one wrong, it will re-appear until you get the right answer.
The Content Screens
Rollovers which highlight on these screens offer audio ΓÇÿbitesΓÇÖ from programmes of the period. If thereΓÇÖs no highlight, thereΓÇÖs no audio to be heard.
YouΓÇÖll find snippets of archive programmes in Radio and Television, whereas technological developments are charted in Technology. Behind the Scenes gives a glimpse into the inner workings of the BBC.
The Control Bar
To bring up the Control Bar ΓÇö and a selection of programmes and content ΓÇö just pull the mouse down to the bottom centre of the screen. After a couple of seconds, the Control Bar slides up. Use the arrows to scroll the menu and use the video controls beneath the screen to play your selection.
For Radio and Television pieces, the Play button flashes. For still photographs and text, the Fast Forward button flashes.
The Control Bar enables you to navigate horizontally through the programme, say, from 1920s Radio to 1930s Radio, using ΓÇÿNext DecadeΓÇÖ. Similarly, go back by clicking ΓÇÿLast DecadeΓÇÖ. You can also return to the ΓÇÿMain Decade ScreenΓÇÖ.
To make the Control Bar disappear, move the mouse up the screen.
Wherever you are in the CD-ROM, you can click on the small globe icon, top right of the screen, to return to the main Globe. Then, you can either select another decade as described above, or, by rolling over the BBC logo, you might choose ΓÇÿGuideΓÇÖ which shows the contents of the CD-ROM, or ΓÇÿExitΓÇÖ, which enables you to quit the CD-ROM.
